The Marauders get a Mascot
by Chandlure Trainez
Summary: A story in which Peter finds a cat and the Marauders declare it their mascot. Well, this certainly can't go wrong. A Chandlure Trainez One Shot.


_The Marauders get a Mascot_

 _A Chandlure Trainez One Shot_

It had been Peter who found the cat. He almost tripped over it from where it was sunbathing leisurely beside the stairs of the castle. Peter had wanted to go to the Library to get his essay done for McGonagall but became distracted by the gorgeous weather. Instead, he decided that he could go sit beside Remus near the Great Elm and work. It was not like the elder boy would bother him, he was usually too absorbed in his own reading this time of the day. In either case, it would be a good chance to hang out with just Remus for a change, they are almost never alone anymore, and he found he missed the quiet calmness of the other Marauder.

"I'm so sorry!" He gasped, placing his bag on the step above him and kneeling beside the startled cat. He placed his hand on the cat's stomach, checking for injuries. "I didn't see you there, are you okay?" he cooed, satisfied when he found no injuries. He stroked the fur beneath his fingers, smiling at the purring he got in return. "You're such a pretty thing, I've never seen you around here before. Do you have a home?"

Peter started, stopping his ministrations. He could have sworn the cat just winked at him and pointed its tail towards the castle in the direction of the Gryffindor Head's room. He shook his head and chuckled to himself, that was impossible. He pushed his bangs from his eyes and stared down at the cat in front of him. "Heh, you look like James a bit with those square marks around your eyes. Are you hungry? If you come with me I am sure Remus has something you can snack on."

The cat blinked at him. Peter held out his arms and almost wearily, the cat jumped into them. He grabbed his bag from the step and began to quickly cross the grounds to where Remus was laying on his stomach in the shade. "Moony!" Peter said excitedly. Remus held up his finger and read the last part of his sentence before finally looking up.

"Is that a cat," Remus asked dryly before he pushed himself up into an upright position. At Peter's nod, he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Where did you get the cat, Wormtail?"

"I almost tripped over her on the front steps." Peter threw his bag on the ground and sat down beside it, before placing the cat in his lap. "I thought she could hang out with us for a bit."

Remus eyed the cat dubiously, his lips pursed. "Animals hate me."

Peter looked down at the cat who had just jumped out of his lap and was sniffing curiously at Remus. With an almost human-like shrug, the cat plopped itself down in the shade atop Remus' school bag. "Well, this one doesn't seem to have a problem with you."

With a sigh, he regarded Peter with a hard stare. "This cat pisses on my bag you are buying me a new one." He warned, chuckling slightly when the cat hissed, seemingly indignant to the comment. "She is kinda cute."

Remus settled back into his book, feeling more at ease now that the cat seemed to have fallen asleep. "If you need help with McGonagall's essay, let me know. Padfoot and Prongs already finished theirs last night."

Peter smiled gratefully, "I think I got this one. If you could look it over when I am finished that would be amazing, though! I can always look over other's work, but can't find mistakes on my own."

Remus nodded, "of course."

It became silent then between the two humans and the cat, the only sounds heard were the turning of pages, the scratching of quill and the breathy purring of the cat. In the distance they could hear James yelling at his team about something or another, making both boys -not for the first time- very grateful to not be on the quidditch team.

o0o

"AH!"

Peter and Remus bolted from their dorm room into the bathroom, wands at the ready. They frantically looked around but saw no Deatheaters, only Sirius and James huddled together on the bathroom floor. Sirius in but a towel, and James with a toothbrush still in his mouth.

"What happened‽" Peter asked frantically, his eyes scanning the bathroom to look for the threat. Remus had already put his wand away and was helping the two boys up.

"Some weird grey monster just flashed past us!" Sirius said, smoothing the towel over his hips.

"Grey…" Peter kneeled down and peeked under the toilet where the cat from earlier today was hiding, eyes seemingly wide with terror. "You two are such dolts, it's not a grey monster, it's just the cat I met today." He tutted, and pulled out the cat, shushing it's hissing and holding it in his arms. "You guys scared her!" He scolded.

"Where did you get a cat from?" James asked incredulously, kneeling in front of Peter to examine the cat as he tucked his toothbrush behind his ear. "Remus, did you know Peter had a cat‽" He pet the cat on the head, smiling down at it. He turned to Sirius' sulking form. "She's pretty cute, Pads. Check her out."

"I almost squashed her in front of the castle," Peter said, shifting to allow Sirius a better view. "I don't know how she got in the dormitory, though, we left her by the tree just before supper."

Sirius sat on the floor and stared at the cat, "does someone own it? I don't remember this one around before."

Peter shrugged, "I'm not sure. That's why I had left her by the tree."

"Why don't we take her in then, as an unofficial mascot of the Marauders?" James said suddenly, his eyes shining with excitement.

"I wasn't aware we needed a mascot," Remus said wryly.

"We don't _need_ one per say…" James paused in consideration. "Actually scratch that, we need one! How are we supposed to be official without a mascot Moony‽"

"McGonagall named us, we are official enough." Remus huffed, "Listen, I am fine if you guys want a pet," he allowed them to cheer for a moment before continuing, " _but_ I am not feeding it, I am not cleaning up after it. This cat is your responsibility."

Peter jumped up and hugged Remus tightly, "thank you, Papa Moony!"

"Yeah, Papa Moony is awesome!" James cheered. He picked up the cat and looked it straight in the eye. "You're going to be our official mascot from now on!" He frowned for a moment, looking to Sirius. "What should we name it?"

Sirius cocked his head to the side, and grabbed the cat from James, looking between its legs. The cat hissed, and kicked at him, causing Sirius to drop her. "Well, she is definitely not a boy, feisty witch that one is." He grinned, "I say we name her after the feistiest witch we know…"

"Lily," James said dreamily.

"I was thinking Minnie," Sirius shot back with a grin.

Remus nodded in acceptance, "I like that! She is an amazing witch, not to mention our head of house. I think it's a wonderful way to honour her. What do you think, Wormy?"

Peter shrugged, "I don't care either way. However, I don't think Lily will take to kindly to a cat being named after her." He chuckled, "then again, anything we do pisses her off so maybe it doesn't even matter."

It was James' turn to sulk, "you never want to go with my name ideas."

"Because your name ideas are always 'Lily', no offence mate, but we don't care too much for that bird." Sirius snapped with a flip of his hair.

"I like Lily," Remus said softly. To stop Sirius from protesting he put up his hand, "but I like Minnie for this one. James, next time there is a name involved I promise we will use Lily."

James, satisfied with that response stood and brushed himself off, "Minnie it is then." He picked up the cat and smiled at her, "Minnie, you are now officially a Marauder, welcome to the club!"

Minnie mewed, and tried to wiggle out of James' arms. To Peter, it looked as if she realised what she had just gotten into and was trying to escape as quickly as possible.

o0o

"First order of business is to give her a flea bath," Sirius stated, as he stood above the cat. "We don't need another flea fiasco like last time."

"And who is the one who brought the fleas into the dorm with them in the first place?" Peter asked from his position on the floor. Minnie looked up between Sirius and Peter, her expression, had she been human, certainly would have been bemused.

"Shut it, Wormtail." Face tinged pink he continued. "We aren't talking about me anyway. We can't afford to catch fleas again, besides, she looks filthy and I don't want her all over my bed until she is clean."

"Cat's clean themselves," Remus said from his spot at the window. He was smoking a cigarette to which the cat seemed to be looking at him disapprovingly. Turning his head to the side he blew out a smoke ring. "And she isn't showing any signs of having fleas. We can just summon a flea collar and leave it at that."

Ignoring Remus, Sirius pulled out his wand. "James come help me, Peter, hold her still so she doesn't get away," Sirius commanded.

Remus looked back out the window and ignored their antics. "If she scratches you, I am going to laugh."

"Scourgify!" Sirius

"Tergeo!" James

"Ugh, you guys are getting me all wet!" Peter complained as he held on to the struggling cat.

"You could use a bath too, Wormy," James said teasingly, putting his wand away. "Oh, uh oh."

Wearily Remus got up and looked over Sirius' shoulder, "what have you done to her fur! She looks like a poodle!"

"Her!?" Peter squeaked, "they got me too! I can't go to classes like this!" Remus pursed his lips to keep himself from laughing, the others, had not been as kind.

"Peter has a cloud on his head!" Sirius snickered.

"Good look, Mate! With everyone looking at your hair, at least they'll be distracted from that pimple on your face." James chirped, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head.

"Oh my god, a pimple! What the hell did you guys do to me!" Peter whined, as he jumped up from the bed and ran to Sirius' side table to pick up his mirror. "That thing is the size of Hagrid. Christ, my hair…" Peter fell onto Sirius' bed and hid his face in the pillows. "I am never leaving this room again. I refuse."

"Peter, it isn't that bad," Remus said, hiding his chuckle behind a cough. "I'm sure it'll all wear off by morning." He patted his friend's lower back before turning to the cat. "Minnie on the other hand… of for fuck sakes, James! Is that my scarf!?"

"Doesn't it look cute on her, Moony?" James tied it around Minnie's neck and beamed up at him. "It makes her look like a lion! An adorable, albeit wrong coloured, lion."

"She looks beautiful!" Sirius gushed, "just like Papa Padfoot." If one were to look closely at Minnie, one would see that she looked as if she had one eyebrow raised.

Remus breathed heavily through his nose and pointed to the door, "just go get her some fish from the kitchens. I will see if I can reverse what you did to Peter because I am not explaining this to McGonagall."

James and Sirius deflated a bit and nodded, "Yes, Papa Moony." Both boys grinned suddenly and were out the door in a flash.

"Uh oh," Remus muttered to himself.

"Rem, fix me." Peter moaned, flipping himself over on his back.

Shaking his head, he looked at the cat. "You have no idea what you are getting yourself into, Love."

o0o

"I can't believe you two lost the cat!" James snapped, folding his arms in front of his chest. "You had one job while me and Pads got her food."

"I was helping Peter, and you know what a bloody project that is!" Remus snapped back, leaning his elbows on his desk.

"Hey!" Peter cried, puffing up his cheeks.

"Oh, shut up, Wormtail. You're a bloody project when you don't have freakish clown hair and a monstrous pimple." Sirius said, chin in hand.

"Diva," Peter muttered darkly, pulling his parchment out of his bag.

Sirius was about to retort when McGonagall entered the room. Everyone in the classroom paused, their mouths opened in disbelief. There, standing in front of the class was prim and proper McGonagall in her bottle green robes, an annoyed look on her face. Not that much of her face could be seen through the puffy cloud of hair in front of it.

Lily raised her hand, but a glare from McGonagall had her pulling it down quickly. The students looked around at each other, no one willing to say anything, too afraid of her wrath. Well, almost no one.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Minnie, that hair looks absolutely stunning on you." And like that the tension broke and the students began to chatter and laugh. McGonagall cracked a slight smile, before waving her hand at the board and pulling up the day's notes.

"Thank you, Mr. Black. I think I may keep it for a while."

 **AN: This was an idea I got off Facebook. I am not sure who to credit, but if you guys know please tell me so that I can give them credit.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this story!**

 **Chandlure Trainez**


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